


Home Again

by JusticeForMothra



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Ecopoint: Antarctica, Fanfiction, Overwatch Recall, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Slow Burn, Team Talon (Overwatch), Watchpoint: Gibraltar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2020-01-12 16:05:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18449966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JusticeForMothra/pseuds/JusticeForMothra
Summary: Taking place directly after the Rise & Shine short, Mei is on her way to an old Overwatch Docking point in Antarctica, after leaving the Ecopoint with Snowball, as her entire chance of survival rests on whether she can make contact with Winston once she gets there. Winston, meanwhile, is trying his best to re-form Overwatch  at Watchpoint, Gibraltar, after sending the recall message out to all former agents.





	1. On Our Way

Unknown Location - Antarctica

"Snowball!"

The piercing wind almost swept Mei's voice away, but she managed to make herself heard. However, this did nothing to stop her companion from rushing away to investigate yet another dune of snow. She tried to catch him, but the little robot had flown up and over the small mountain before she could even move. He was out of her sight in seconds, and she sighed frustratedly. 

"Snowball, we don't have time!" she called, trying to make him come back of his own will. It was true, they really didn't have time - the weather was worsening and it had been ever since they left the Ecopoint a week ago. They needed to hurry if they wanted any chance of getting to the Docking Bay where they could contact Winston. But Snowball poked his head over the top of the hill and beeped at her, disappearing afterward. Mei huffed, her usually cheery smile forming a hard line. Shaking her head and muttering in Mandarin, she began climbing the dune to see what Snowball thought was important enough to stop their journey for. The ascent gave her a few moments to think, something she hadn't gotten to do a lot of since they left - which she was beginning to realise, might not have been such a bad thing. 

'Ten years,' she thought, inhaling the icy air. 'What happened? What was bad enough to shut down something as big as Overwatch?' she continued, her feet pounding into the snow harder than they needed to be. 'How did we get forgotten about for so long? How did everyone but me...' 

A feeling as though she'd been knocked to the ground slammed into her at the final thought. Mei fought for breath, as it had been sucked out of her lungs, leaving her doubled over from the impact of the grief. 

"All my friends..." she breathed, tears glistening morosely in her eyes. Mei had done her best not to think about the grisly discovery she'd made little over a week ago. Waking up from her cryostasis had been exciting - completely new findings and data awaited her, and she was longing to work through all of it. She knew she and her team would have their hands full with it all, but the challenge was breathtaking. Emerging from her pod, though tired with a passion, Mei couldn't wait to start her work again. She'd pottered around for a while, waiting for the appearance from her friends. In the meantime, her excitement couldn't be contained any longer - mug in hand, she'd pulled up what was supposed to be the new data. Instead, she was confronted with and error message. She began searching for the root of the error, when another one popped up. And another. Before she knew it, the entire projection was overflowing with messages of power-outages, severe temperature fluctuations, weather damage, system failures. Mei skimmed over the bombardment, trying to make sense of it all. She didn't know how that many things could have gone wrong in such a small amount of time - they hadn't been asleep long enough for this many malfunctions. Something felt wrong. She tried to access the Comms, but they were all offline as well. Delving deeper, she began trying every kind of communication possible for the Ecopoint - and failing every one. Stepping back, completely stumped, and a growing sense of concern growing, a document loaded, garnering her attention. Her mug shattered to the concrete floor as she read it.

Overwatch Disbanded. 

She dove for the computer, desperately searching for more information, and finding it. Her pulse quickened with every word she read, her eyes darting from article to article. Overwatch was finished. Her disbelief blinded her for a good few minutes, but when her vision cleared, she noticed something. The date of the very first article that had come up. Her brow furrowed as she re-read it multiple times. 

Suddenly, Mei was going through every single piece she'd read to find their dates, her face draining of more colour with each one. It dawned on her slowly - they'd been here for ten years.

Her blood chilled. She turned to the computer, furiously closing pages in order to get to one in specific, and after what felt like hours, she finally pulled it up. The maintenance report of the Cryostasis pods. And the fears that had been festering inside her were confirmed, as she read that every pod except hers, had stopped running. She dove for the pods of her friends, refusing the believe what she'd just seen. Refusing to believe they'd been left to die. She wiped the condensation off the window of the first pod she got her hands on, pleading silently to anything willing to listen for her friends to still be alive. Nothing listened.

 

Mei gasped, a propelling wind snapping her from the memories, and back into the current situation. She pulled her cold hands from where they'd been resting, deep in the snow, and noticed tears she didn't know she'd shed beginning to freeze on her cheeks. Decidedly, she wiped them away, wiping away her turmoil with them.

'I can't give up now,' she thought firmly. Pushing her trauma back, her burning persistence returned, the only thing other than Snowball that had kept her alive since she woke up. Continuing up the snowy hill, she began to near the small peak, and could hear Snowball's rapid beeping. At this, she couldn't help but smile, needing to find some joy in such a bleak situation. Her previous frustration at her companion was now gone, replaced by the desire to keep pushing on. Besides, she knew that she had no right to be angry at Snowball for making them stop. She'd tasked him with the job of alerting her if he saw any unusual ecological specimens - Snowball just took this job a little too seriously.

With climbing being no harder for her than walking, she reached the top of the hill quickly. For a moment she couldn't spot Snowball, amidst the vast plains of glittering snow. A beep from her right made her turn, and she saw him a few metres from the bottom of the hill. It took Mei a moment to register what all the fuss had been about, but when she did, she understood why.

"Snowball, how did you find this?!" she cried, racing down to where he was hovering excitedly. Mei could barely contain her elation, albeit slight confusion. Because right there, in the middle of the frozen wasteland, where the only other forms of life she'd seen were old fishbones from previous penguin feasts, was a tree.


	2. Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back at the Watchpoint, Winston, accompanied by Tracer, is working hard after sending out the recall message. However, an unexpected surprise takes their day down a new path.

Watchpoint, Gibraltar

The sun was setting gloriously over the abandoned station. Well, previously abandoned station - a week ago it had been lifeless, with one inhabitant, barely any activity, and no hope. Since then, and since a certain recall message went out, blood had started pumping through the Watchpoint once more. And other than Winston, that blood was very British, and very bubbly. Tracer had shown up at the Watchpoint not even three hours after he sent the message out, eyes blazing with pride, and her heart already dedicated to his cause. 

Winston sat at his desk, fiddling with Lenas chronal accelerator. Recently, just before the recall, it had suffered some damage at the hands of a Talon agent - nothing, Winston was sure, worth worrying about, but it had been so long since he'd been able to check on it, he felt this long overdue.

Peering out his window, he watched the burning orange sun set over the crystal ocean. It brought a bitter-sweet smile to his lips. He thought he'd never get to see this view as a member of Overwatch again. But here he was.

"Winston?"

He almost crushed the device as Tracer's voice rang through the room. He turned in his chair to face his old friend, expecting to see her cheeky grin, but finding a look of anticipation and anxiety. "Somebody's here," she informed.

Winston was up in seconds, handing Tracer her accelerator and instructing her on how to use it after its tweaks, all while equipping his Tesla cannon. "Athena, pull up all the security footage on the outside of the perimeter," he called to the A.I. that helped him run things. However, silence followed his command, confusing him. "Athena?" he called once more, moving back to his desk, peering at her activity status. In this time, Tracer had dashed away to get her pistols, should a fight ensue. Athena had gone offline, and Winston knew he didn't have the time to try and fix that if somebody had found their way near the premises

"I'm back! Found anything yet?" Tracer asked, appearing next to him once more. Winston shook his head and stared harder at the security footage he'd brought up himself. He couldn't see anything, and without Athena to help him scan the area, he wouldn't know who, or what, had intruded. He began to worry, as the last time Athena went offline, though momentarily, was when he'd fought the Reaper. 

"I just can't see anything outside the barriers, and without-"

"Outside the barriers?" Tracer cut him off, staring steadily out the window. Winston frowned.

"Yes, why?" he replied.

"I don't think looking outside the Watchpoint is gonna help you too much, big guy," she stated, pointing below them. The figure below was hulking, obscured by their even larger shadow - and heading straight toward the office. 

"How did they get past the security?" Winston yelled, over the noise of his and Tracer's pounding footsteps as they ran to face the invader. "Who knows! We'll figure it out after we rumble!" Tracer called back. They burst through the automatic doors, Winston roaring as he leapt out and threw a barrier down over himself and Tracer. Her guns were poised and ready to attack, itching to be in another brawl. Her second most recent one had ended in tragedy, with the death of Mondatta at the hands of the Talon agent, Widowmaker. She'd been helpless to stop it, but she carried the weight of his death as if it her own doing. She needed to feel like a good guy again. However, as the mystery person looked up at them, she realised today wouldn't be the day of her redemption. And she thought, as she beamed, that she couldn't care less.

"Is this any way to greet your old friend?" Reinhardt asked, smiling widely at them both. Winston dropped his gun, as Tracer leapt onto her old strike team leader. "You came back," Winston laughed, overjoyed that someone other than Tracer had heard him. Reinhardt pulled him into a vice-like hug.

"I'm sorry I took so long! I had to bring a straggler with me!" he guffawed, looking behind him to another smaller figure that was coming up on the horizon. As both Winston and Tracer looked to see just what he was talking about, the second person jogged into view, and the familarity of her face hit them both like a bullet. Her bubbly, yet challenging smile was something they'd both known before, but on a different person. Both had their suspicions as to who this was, but Tracer figured it out first as she laid her eyes on the tattoo on the girls shoulder - one of two cogs intertwined together.

"Long time no see you guys!" Brigitte chirped, hugging Tracer, while Winston watched on in disbelief. "Brigitte, you're here too?" Winston beamed, elated at the second member. "In the flesh!" she replied, smiling back.

"She forced me to bring her," Reinhardt whispered to Winston, who had no doubt that, even with Reinhardt's huge size, Brig had grown up a force to be reckoned with. Tracer, now back at her spot next to Winston, had tears of joy streaming down her cheeks at this sudden arrival. She never would have said it aloud, for fear of disheartening Winston even more, but she'd been so worried that nobody would come back - she'd kept her worries on this subject to herself, as she knew that it had been consuming Winston. He didn't need to hear her verbalise his deepest fears. But now, as she stood in front of Reinhardt and Brigitte, her anxiety dissipated slightly.

"How did you get in, Reinhardt?" Winston asked, oblivious to Tracer wiping her tears beside him, desperate to know how he'd slipped past Athena and all of the security systems. It's not that Reinhardt was dumb - he'd lead many a successful mission, and Winston was sure that, given the right teaching, their burly friend would be capable of many a cunning escapde. But hacking the security system that Winston himself had been responsible for... well it just seemed a little out of Reinhardt's depth. Reinhardt, however, chortled, clapping Tracer on the shoulder at this question, sending her stumbling forward.

"You're a brilliant scientist, Winston, but sometimes less is more," he replied, looking around conspicuously. "How on Earth do you mean?" Tracer piped in, cocking an eyebrow. She knew as well as anyone that Winston didn't do things by halves, and in his eyes less was never more. 

Reinhardt's good eye caught in the sun, and for a moment he looked like the careless crusader from a long time ago. "I used my old security code" he whispered, giggling like a child. Winston was dumbfounded, while Tracer joined the laughter. After a moment's disbelief, Winston let a smile of pure entertainment (and mild embarrassment) creep onto his face, unable to fight it. Reinhardt placed his hands on his hips and took in a gargantuan breath of air.

"It still smells the same," he commented wistfully, surveying the horizon. Tracer chuckled, wiping fresh tears from her eyes. Reinhardt noticed, and rubbed her shoulder, much more gently this time. It had been just as emotional a week ago, when Tracer came back to the Watchpoint for good. Her and Winston had been in touch since Overwatch disbanded, but not like this - not where they didn't have to hide, and look over their shoulders every few minutes. When she'd arrived, Winston had wept openly, something few had ever seen him do. Now, as they stood there, welcoming their friends, a familiar glimmer could be seen in all of their eyes - not just from the tears, but from a rekindled hope.

"Anyway! Look at us!" Winston laughed, picking up his gun. "Let's go inside, shall we?" he asked, leading the way to his office. Rapid talking broke out behind him from the other three, and he smiled at it. A rush of nostalgia flowed through him, and in that moment, he felt the way he had ten years ago. In that moment, he knew he would do anything to bring this feeling back for good. To bring Overwatch back for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I forgot to upload chapter 2 with chapter 1, but I already had it typed out so voila! Hope you liked it, and liked the bringing in of more characters - they'll trickle in more and more so stay with me!! I haven't typed the next chapter out yet, so it should be uploaded by next week!


	3. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mei and Snowball try to rest as much as possible, as they near the hardest part of their journey.

Unknown Location - Antarctica

A single fire illuminated the powdery snow surrounding it, its light casting lively shadows as the flames danced. Mei watched it merrily, the warmth helping relax her aching legs, and Snowball bringing a smile to her face as he built a snowman. Her tent, resistant to the harshest of weather, and the fiercest of colds, sat close to the fire also, warming up. She palmed the vials of sap in her hands. The discovery of the tree earlier that day had been astounding - Snowball had to drag her away from it as she'd already filled half the available sample tubes they were carrying.

"What was it doing out there?" she asked Snowball thoughtfully. He stopped pushing snow along the ground and beeped uncertainly. Mei looked back at the small beakers and frowned. Even though the discovery of the tree was astounding, and possibly world changing, it shouldn't have happened.

'It shouldn't have been able to grow' she thought. 'In this climate, this part of the world - it just shouldn't have been possible'

She looked into the fire, the heat of it assaulting her eyes. ' If the climate changed that much in those ten years ... then what about the rest of the world?'

Snowball squeaked from right beside Mei, and she turned suddenly. He motioned toward the lopsided, yet sweet snowman he'd made. She smiled widely, forgetting her concerns about what had become of the world since she was last in it.

"Well done Snowball, it's beautiful!" she praised, earning a proud beep. 

The snowman had already begun to melt in such close proximity to the fire, which gave it a melancholy smile. This quickly reminded Mei of everything she'd been trying to escape for the last week. Horrors, ten years worth of horrors, had accumulated and crushed her all at once. She was still coming to grips with it all, but the trek had been a wonderful excuse to push it as far into the back of her mind as possible. She knew, however, that she'd eventually be forced to deal with it all. 

'It's not healthy for me to be ignoring it all. If Angela knew, she'd be-'

A weak whimper escaped Mei's throat. Angela wouldn't know - Overwatch was gone. Not only was she grieving for the friends she knew she'd lost, but she was pining for the family she knew was no longer waiting for her. She didn't even know if they were still alive. 'But one is,' she reminded herself, determinedly. Battering her emotions back, she steeled herself. Winston was alive. Winston was waiting for her, and for everyone. Though it may not be what it was once, her family was still alive, even if it was just barely. 

"Snowball," she said, her voice much stronger than she'd anticipated. Mei jolted back at this, and smiled at her friend. "Sorry," she apologised. "We should go to sleep. Tomorrow we're going to reach the Bay, but it's going to be a hard journey. We have to be rested."

Snowball let out a series of protestive beeps, and Mei nodded in acknowledgement. "I know it's a beautiful night, but we don't have a choice," she replied gently. Snowball gave another round of beeps. Mei smiled softly at him. "Tomorrow on our journey, we can look for clues about that tree we found," she coaxed. At this, Snowball paused. She could see him considering it, before giving a firm squeak to let her know he agree, but he wasn't happy about it. And that was good enough for Mei. She clapped her gloved hands and began slotting the vials back in their casing. She knew she'd need to preserve them well if she was to study them back at home.

Snowball spun into the air and towards the tent. Once all the beakers were tucked away safely, Mei put the case in her backpack and took it into the tent as well. She zipped it up behind her, and felt the leftover heat from the fire gently seeping in. Snowball had already docked in his make-shift charging station. At night time it was more for show than functionality, as it was solar powered, and only worked during the day. But it seemed to comfort him, so she made no comments. Mei took off her large outerwear and huddled into her sleeping bag. She was much more washed out than she had been on previous nights. Though they had worked much harder on their journey that day. The snow was piling higher, and the weather was becoming nastier.

'But we'll make it tomorrow' she thought, relief coursing through her veins. Once they reached the Bay, she'd be able to contact Winston. Clearly it would be out of use, but if she could get the entire Ecopoint working again after ten years of damage, she had faith she could do it for the Bay. She knew she had no other choice.

With that thought, her eyes began to droop steadily. She managed one last goodnight to Snowball, before falling asleep to the sound of his peaceful reply.

 

Mei woke to an ungodly howling the next morning. She jolted upright, panicked and breathless, as she had every morning since getting out of hibernation. After a few moments of re-living that feeling of dread, she brought herself back down. Then she remembered what their mission for the day was, and whatever panic remained in her mind turned into pure excitement.

"Snowball! Wake up!" she whispered, throwing the sleeping bag off herself and leaping out of it. Snowball woke the same way she did, his alarmed beeping filling the tent before she calmed him down. "Come on, sleepy head! We're going home today!" she bubbled, Snowball groggily removing himself from the dock. The violent howling outside picked up, and Mei felt the entire tent rumble. The weather had turned overnight. For a second this dampened her mood, as she knew it would be more difficult to reach the Bay with this kind of wind blowing. But only for a second, as Snowball beginning to zoom around perked her up. They worked quickly, packing the contents of the tent in no more than five minutes. The tent itself took a little longer in the wind, but they got it down and into Mei's pack in fifteen. When Mei stood from covering the remaining embers of the fire in snow, a gust of wind almost knocked her back down. Snowball quickly dashed behind her and steadied her. 

"Thank you, Snowball. What would I do without you?" she giggled, adjusting her bag. Snowball was happy with this compliment, and Mei smiled. Looking to the horizon, she squinted to protect her eyes. The wind whipped snowflakes around her face, the freezing crystals stinging on impact. However, the wind was no match for the glorious sun, rising in front of them. Mei hoisted her pack and Snowball's charger onto her back, Snowball settling in to be charged. She took a lungful of icy air and smiled brightly.

"Snowball, we're almost home"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I had some extra time and decided to post the third chapter! I'm having such a great time writing things that others are actually going to see that I just couldn't help myself! I really hope that you, the lovely reader reading this, are enjoying it!!!


	4. Country Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the Watchpoint, Winston, Tracer, Brigitte and Reinhardt begin working to bring the place back up to functioning standards, while waiting (hoping) for more arrivals. And while it isn't exactly an arrival, they receive contact from an old, gun slinging friend.

Watchpoint, Gibraltar

"So nobody else has replied yet?"  
Brigitte's dark eyebrows knitted in confusion, with some frustration mingled in. Winston sighed and nodded.  
"Not yet. Really, we should be thankful I could even put the message out. Had it been a year ago, it would have been suicide," he replied, thinking of the warnings Athena had given him the first time he thought to send out the recall. She'd been right, of course. And even now, it was putting people in danger. But there was never going to be a right time to do something like this - something illegal. Brigitte's heart stung briefly, for more than one reason. It hurt her that nobody had replied to Winston's call, bar herself, Tracer and Reinhardt. She knew that it wasn't always possible to make communication, and that there may be people on their way, but the fear that it would only ever be just them had rooted itself in the back of her mind. She'd never been a part of Overwatch, but Torbjorn had. She remembered how badly it broke him when the organisation was disbanded. And by that point, the people who were a part of it felt as much her own family as they were his, so it hurt her just as much as any of them that nobody else had come yet. And along those same lines as family, her heart carried another burden, one that she knew she couldn't tell to anyone for fear of sounding too childish to be here - but it hurt her that Torbjorn hadn't arrived.  
"What's the matter, love?" Tracer asked, entering the large cafeteria they were seated in. She frowned at the melancholy that was playing on both Winston and Brigitte's faces. Brigitte waved the question away, stuffing her disappointment back down. "It's nothing, Lena. I was just thinking about everyone else," she replied.  
Tracer sat beside her and sighed. There were only three of them inside the enormous room, only highlighting the loneliness that was plaguing the Watchpoint.  
"I'm sure they're on their way, Brig," Tracer smiled, placing a hand on Brigitte's shoulder. The comfort was appreciated, and Brigitte smiled softly.  
"Where's Reinhardt?" Winston asked suddenly, only just resurfacing from the blueprints he'd been studying meticulously for the last hour. "I saw him earlier, around the last training room, but I'm not too sure," Tracer replied, looking around for him.

"I've learned that it's best to leave him if he disappears. He does it for a reason" Brigitte explained, standing up. Winston nodded, turning back to his schematics, as Brigitte looked at Tracer.  
"Speaking of those training rooms, while we were travelling here, I had to endure a lot of Reinhardt's stories, and I wouldn't mind-"  
"Race you there!' Tracer cut her off cheerily, blinking out of the room. Brigitte quickly raced after her, calling for her to stop cheating.

Winston chuckled, enjoying what little mayhem was already starting to bloom. Even though he was now alone in the canteen, he stayed in his spot. He was more than used to being alone - in fact, he'd become so accustomed to it of late, that he found himself struggling to get used to more than one person being around him again. And as he was re-learning what it meant to be part of a team once more, he found that a little bit of alone time went a long way.

So, Winston stayed, by himself, going over the blueprints for the Orcas, and trying to figure out what came next for their small vigilante group. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but an urgent beeping brought him crashing into reality. He was on his feet and ready to leave for his office in seconds before Athena spoke.

"There has been an alert to one of the Comms systems" she explained. Winston's ears pricked at this, and he raced for the communications control room. Part of him wasn't holding out full hope, as Athena had been slightly jumpy since accidentally being taken offline by Reinhardt yesterday. Once there, he slammed the door shut and surveyed the room. Nothing looked different - to his dismay, all of the Comms were still offline, other than Gibraltar itself. However, as he peered closer, he saw a tiny blue light beaming from one of the panels.

"Athena, can you bring up the old records for this ... specimen?" he finished, not exactly knowing what the blue light was. As one of the brightest scientists in Overwatch, maintaining the communication systems was never a major part of his job description, and although he'd become very acquainted with the devices over time, some of them had been dormant for so long, they'd escaped his memory.

Athena obliged, and data from years of use came into view. It took Winston only a few moments of skimming through it to realise what this light was. "Athena," he breathed, removing his glasses. "Who was the last known agent to be in possession of Echo?"

Silence settled for a brief second as Athena scanned multitudes of information for an answer. Winston felt faint hope rekindle inside him once more. Athena then spoke. "The last known Overwatch operative to have contact with Echo was Agent Jesse McCree"

Winston's eyes lit up

Echo's blue light glistened brightly among the grey of the other abandoned Comms, and Winston felt like he'd never seen anything more beautiful. This meant that McCree got the message. Just as Winston was beginning to to try and trace Echo's whereabouts, Athena's voice cut through the air once more. 

"Incoming transition"

It was then replaced by Tracer's. "Winston, you have a message up here!" she babbled joyfully. "And I think you're gonna wanna see it!" 

This made Winston leave for his office

He was fairly sure he knew who the sudden caller was, as it was too much of a coincidence with the timing of Echo's resurfacing. The thought brought a tiny smile to his lips, as the logical side of him battled hard to try and make sure his hope didn't fly too close to the sun. As he approached the door of the office, and before he could even type his code in, the heavy door slid open and Tracer materialized behind it. "Hurry up!" she prompted, zipping in front of him . Winston huffed as he tried his best to keep up with her. It seemed that, sometimes, Tracer forgot about the size difference between herself and Winston. She often cajoled him to keep up with her, throwing aside the fact that she was a time-bending human asking this of a fully-grown gorilla. 

After leaping up the stairs, Winston hastily halted inside his office. As he'd already guessed, Reinhardt and Brigitte were already inside and chatting away. Reinhardt was the first to notice him, grinning large and beckoning him over.

"What's going on?" Winston asked, still not knowing for sure who they were actually talking to. Reinhardt opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a voice that had tired him endlessly in the old Overwatch days, spoke instead.

"Come on now, don't tell me you ain't figured it out yet?"

Smug pride mixed with helpless relief surged through Winston, because he knew that voice - it was the one he'd been expecting. "I had a few ideas, Jesse," he replied, moving closer to the large screen. McCree chuckled as Winston took place between Tracer and Brigitte.

"How did you ever assume it was McCree?" Tracer asked, arching an eyebrow. "It was just some basic deduction, really," he answered, adjusting his glasses. His pride was cut down a few notches when the lights flickered. "And help from Athena," he added sheepishly, the lights going back to normal.

McCrees wholesome laughter filled the room, as he shook his head. "It sure is nice to see ain't nothin' much has changed," he commented. "My friend, when will you be joining us again?" Reinhardt asked, never one to beat around the bush. "I'm on my way right now, but I got some ... business, to attend to first," McCree replied, his eyes shifting beneath the wide brim of his hat. Nobody prompted any further explanation.

"Jesse, is Echo with you? And how did you manage to get into our video system?" Winston blurted. He was struggling to fight back the rest of his questions. 

"Woah, hold your horses there. I can explain how I got the message workin' later. As for Echo, she's here. Just not completely,"

Before Winston could ask, McCree held up a small white chip with a tiny, blue light glowing from it. "But like I said, I got some things to do before I get back. And judgin' by the time," he trailed off and cast his gaze to the sun. Winston only just registered that he'd been outside the entire time. "Looks like I should be wrappin' up soon" he finished, smiling.  
"Getting into more trouble?" Tracer asked, wishing she could join him.  
"You know me, Lena, I'm always in trouble" McCree replied. He could tell she missed the thrill of a fight, he could hear the pining in her voice. But Tracer fought for reasons that differed from his own sometimes. She fought to protect others, to protect humanity. He didn't think she'd necessarily want to take part in his next battle. 

The sun beat harder on his neck, reminding him of the clock he was on. 

"I hate to break this up folks, but I gotta go. My 'consort' ain't gonna be happy to see me in the first place - bein' late would just put more bees in her bonnet" he explained.

"McCree, whatever you're about to do, don't-"  
"Let Echo get hurt, I know," McCree cut Winston off. "Don't worry too much about me either" he grumbled. Winstons face softened.

"When should we have your quarters ready by?" he asked, watching Jesses face brighten ever so slightly, hard as he tried to hide it.

"Soon, if this meetin' goes well. But before I come back, I'll call again. I can fill in the gaps about this whole mess then. Actually," he paused to look at the sun. "I'll talk to ya'll again tonight." he finished, nodding firmly. A faint chugging noise caught McCree's attention. His time would soon be up, and he wanted to eat beforehand.

"I'll get Echo and we'll talk later" his voice was harder now, and he tipped his hat down.  
"Don't get yourself killed, boy!" Reinhardt laughed, much too heartily for the seriousness of his words. However it disturbed no one, as this was Reinhardts way. McCree met his comment with a chuckle. How he hadn't died yet was beyond him - but he knew today was still not his day, and that much he knew for sure.

And with that, the image of the cowboy vanished, and the four heroes were left to their own devices once more.

"Well I can't believe that, out of anyone, it's Jesse that's with Echo," Tracer mused aloud. Winston hid a snort by coughing, a little too violently he realised, as he earned a concerned look from Brigitte.  
"We really need a doctor around here. I'm starting to worry about the injuries that are coming our way," she stated. Everyone knew which doctor she was talking about.

"Let's just get our cowboy back. We won't need to worry about injuries until he's here anyway" Winston said, dismissing Brigitte's unspoken concern about Angela. He realised he needed to be more of a leader at the moment. He needed to distract them all from worries so that they could be at their best, should an emergency arise. Winston began to hurriedly try and find a kind of task for his comrades to do - his mind was in the middle of racing when movement caught his eye. Tracer was exiting via the stairs, with Brigitte in tow.

"Tracer, wait!" he called, brushing past Reinhardt as he tried to catch up. Both women stopped and turned, facing Winston. "What is it, big guy?" she asked, frowning concernedly.  
"Nothing ominous, I just wanted to see if you - either of you," he added, smiling awkwardly at Brigitte. "Wanted to help me out with the Comms? Now that they're getting more traffic they need to be updated"  
"Sorry Winston, I'd love to help ya'. But I have to go call Emily. I promised I'd check in with her. Besides, I'm no good with that sort of thing. I'd be a pain, and you know it." Tracer replied, offering her giant friend a gentle smile and a pat on the arm.

"That's alright. How about you Brigitte?" he asked, his confidence as their leader slipping further away. "Who better to help out than a Lindholm?" he finished, pushing his glasses up.

His hope brightened when Brigitte's eyes lit up, but dimmed just as quickly when she shook her head sadly. "My shield is completely destroyed. It had already taken a few beatings on the way here, before Lena added to the damage," she said, looking pointedly at Tracer, who giggled.  
"You said you wanted to train!" she interjected.  
"Anyways," Brigitte continued, rolling her eyes happily. "I really have to get it back up to scratch. Tomorrow though, I'm all yours"

Winston nodded and smiled after them both as they walked away. He understood. Of course he understood. But he couldn't help feeling the blow. 'I can't even rally them to do something like this. How am I supposed to lead an entire vigilante army?' he thought, anxiously adjusting his glasses once more, as he began descending the stairs.

'Winston!"

The rough call caught him off guard, making him jolt. Reinhardt was clunking down the stairs behind him. "These young kids don't know how to stay still anymore," he laughed, slinging a giant arm over Winston's equally giant shoulders. "I may not be as smart as you, but I'm sure this old dog can learn some new tricks" he finished, more softly than before. He could sense the distress behind Winston's eyes, and it pained him to see any of his friends upset.  
Winston paused for a moment, allowing as many horror scenarios pass through his head of Reinhardt helping him. He wasn't the helper he'd been expecting, but the fact that he wanted to was good enough for Winston. He knew he was a capable enough teacher.  
He grinned and nodded, and made his way down and back out into the Comms lab, with Reinhardt chewing his ear off. and mentally preparing himself for whatever was going to get broken in the coming hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay!!1 This chapter took me two days to type out (taking breaks, or else I'd have died!), and I think I've successfully given myself carpal tunnel, but I love this chapter so much that I was having too much fun to notice! Yes, Mr Cowboy has arrived, and he'll be on the scene much more now, as will Echo. Both storylines are getting closer and closer to each other, even if it doesn't look like it, I promise they are! I am going to go and sleep now (I was going to try and stay up for the launch of Storm Rising, but I'm too tired and my hands hurt too much!). I hope you all enjoy the start of the event, and that you get all those incredible skins (Ashe's in particular, holy wow!). I'll be updating in the next few days, most likely by Friday! Till then I really hope you guys like the new chapter!!


	5. One Step Down, One to Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battling through the devestating storm that's on it's way, Mei and Snowball finally make a big step in their mission to get home.

Unknown Location - Antarctica

Mei was almost bowled over by a sudden, harsh gust of wind. It was icier now, as the brewing storm was now almost upon them. Now, when snowflakes landed on her faces, they stung instead of tickling. Wind whipped in every direction, sometimes all at once. Mei, however, never grew disoriented - she was her own ray of sunshine. She powered forth, pushing deeper into the elemental chaos, but a seed of worry began sprouting in her stomach. She could no longer see the sky, and she knew better than to get stuck out here in a storm.

She didn't let her worry show though, as Snowball was an emotional robot, and if he sensed her fear, he would turn into a basketcase. Yet another freezing gust sent Mei wobbling backwards. She managed to right herself, though she could feel her sunny disposition beginning to cloud over. Quickly, she began thinking of her old days at Overwatch to stop it from becoming like the storm she was entering.

The past ten years had become less of a painful subject for her to think about, and more of an anomaly she wanted to figure out. If she delved too far into it, however, she worried she wouldn't resurface. It was still very thin ice.

Deciding not to push her mental health at this critical stage of their journey, she thought only of the things she could cope with. Mostly happy memories of her time with the organisation, which had become her second home and family. She thought back to days spent being briefed on missions by Jack, getting checked up on by Angela before leaving, and nights spent either out under the stars, or at one of the Ecopoints. 

The weather consistently worsened, and Mei didn't know how far she'd trekked when she snapped out of the memories. The clouds overheard had turned a ghostly grey, and the wind had ceased. Everything was still - nothing moved, nothing made a sound. She swallowed difficultly. The storm was almost there.

"Snowball, can you tell how far away-"

Fast beeping quickly silenced her, as Snowball dived from his place on her back to hover a few meters in front of her. She sped up after him, reaching the edge of the peak they were on. His frantic beeping confused her, but before Mei could calm him down and ask what was the matter, she looked in the direction he was, and saw what he'd seen - they were both peering down at the abandoned Overwatch Docking Bay. Tears sprung to Mei's eyes.

"We made it," she breathed, letting them fall and warm her cheeks. She and Snowball were racing down the mountain as fast as they both could manage, and after a few minutes, were at the base and dashing for the decrepit building. The air was no longer still - between Snowballs crazed beeps and Meis ecstatic yelps, there was sound at last. It crackled with emotion.

Finally reaching the entrance, Mei took a deep breath. She turned and smiled a smile of the purest happiness there had ever been at Snowball.

"Let's go home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I'm sorry to anybody following this story that I took a while to update it, especially after promising daily ones! I ended up babysitting for about 4 days until Easter and then there was Easter, and anyway! I had a lot on my plate! But I managed to write the next chapter, and I'm sorry that it's a short one, I'd actually forgotten how short this one was until I checked it in the notebook, and was quite s h o o k by it myself! However, the next one's a longun, so strap in for it! And I think after that, that's where I'd gotten up to (I'd been handwriting it so it took a lot longer than it does to type!). Thank you to all who are reading this, I really do appreciate it, and I get very excited when I check and see that there are more hits on it than last time!   
> And I do hate to do this because I'm shy but if you like the story, my Tumblr is justiceformothra, and there I post a lot more lighthearted one-shot kind of things, and scenarios, a lot of which are Overwatch and Apex Legends related! So if that's your peanut butter and jam, feel free to give it a looksee!
> 
> I'll be updating regularly again now, so the next chapter will be up within a few days! (I've also been grinding Archives, so that's taken a lot of my time too!)


	6. The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winston, Tracer, Reinhardt and Brigitte wait for McCree's call to confirm when he'll be arriving back with Echo. The call they receive, however, is much more than they'd been expecting.

Watchpoint, Gibraltar

 

"Reinhardt, wait!"

An ungodly crash rang throughout the Comms lab, as Reinhardt accidentally smashed through the outer casing of an old sonar system. Winston cringed as his friend tried to stabilise the crumbling metal. Granted, the technology in the room was for wear, but he still had no idea how Reinhardt had managed to reduce it to a pulp with only one movement. Reinhardt looked over his shoulder to offer Winston an apologetic smile , and as frustrated as he was at the ever-growing list of things Reinhardt was breaking, he just couldn't find it in himself to stay angry.

"Here, let me help," he said gently, allowing Reinhardt to move out of the way.

"I'm sorry Winston - I suppose this kind of thing isn't in my skillset after all," Reinhardt replied. Winston saw the look of dejection on his face, and instantly waved the statement away. "That just means you have room to learn," he replied, busying himself with fixing the most recent break. In fact, he was so concentrated that he didn't notice the happiness quickly spread across Reinhardt's face, who beamed while wiping his brow. It had long since struck late afternoon in Gibraltar, and the air was oppressive - the Comms lab was also one of the smaller rooms in the base, amplifying the intense heat in the air. 

Fifteen minutes had passed, and while Winston was still trying to repair the sonar, Reinhardt occupied himself with lightly dusting the older computers. However, Winston could sense his friends discomfort due to the heat - every few minutes Reinhardt would rub sweat from the back of his neck, or fan himself with his cleaning rag. The heat was getting to Winston also, who not only had his huge size to contend with, but as well as that, the fact that he was covered in fur. Eventually, Reinhardt's fidgeting became less fidgeting and more twitching, and Winston could bear it no more.

"Reinhardt, could you do me a favour and go up to my office? I need you to see how things are working up there now that I've tweaked so many things down here," he instructed. Reinhardt nodded firmly, grateful to be given a job outside of the sauna the room was becoming. 

"You have my word!" he stated diligently, before exiting the room. Winston shook his head, smiling - Reinhardt's crusader tendencies were never going to leave him. After the brief burst of fresh air supplied by the door opening, the room returned to stifling. Winston found it more bearable now however. Once again, he scolded himself for still desiring alone time after he'd sent out the recall - how could he still expect that luxury when he was the acting commander of Overwatch? He drew a large sigh and tried to go easier on himself. The sudden beeping of the sonar told him he'd done enough to restore it, while simultaneously snapping him out of his thoughts.

'I'm just thankful Reinhardt managed to catch himself. If he hadn't . . . well . . .'

His thoughts trailed off, remembering the multitudes of breakages that had occured during Overwatch's glory days, due to Reinhardt. Standing up, Winston wiped his sweaty hands on his legs. It had become too hot in there for even him to concentrate. He knew the sonar would keep beeping as it reset itself, so he knew he had about two hours before he had to come back down and do the rest of the manual reset. As he headed for the door, he cast a hasty glance at Echo's activation light. A small breath of relief escaped him when he saw it was still aglow. He had full faith in McCree's ability to deliver Echo safely - it was just that McCree had a strong tendency to get reckless a lot of the time. But he was the only person who could help her now, so Winston knew he couldn't complain. 'Speaking of McCree,' he thought, opening the door. 'He should be calling soon.'

It closed slowly behind him, and he turned his back on the room, happy to be out of it even just for a little while. He made his way up and out into the dazzling afternoon heat, not at all surprised that it was cooler under the sun than it was in that god forsaken room. 'I really need to get a better cooling system set up in there,' he thought. His mind traveled as he lumbered to his office to wait for McCree's call. 

Finally in the cool air of the circular room, he sat at his desk and opened a jar of peanut butter. Eyeing it hungrily, he was excited to finally eat, not remembering the last time he'd done so that day. Just as he was about to scoop some out, however, the computers in front of him rang out the sorely missed sound of an incoming message. He placed the jar aside, mildly disappointed that his snack would have to wait. Swiftly he got past his personal security system to answer the call.

"McCree, I'm glad you managed to get back in contact," he started, placing the jar back in the small fridge next to him. He got no answer. Hearing nothing but static, he looked up at the projection. He frowned confusedly when he could see nothing of the cowboy on it, and just robotic bursts of grey and white.

"Jesse? You aren't coming through, can you hear me?" Winston asked. This time, he heard a snippit of reply, but it was too garbled by the connection for him to decipher. "One of the twoers might have come down again," he murmured to himself. He also knew that whatever technology McCree was using to get in contact wasn't state-of-the-art, so he should have expected a bad connection.

'But he was so clear earlier,' Winston pondered, clicking away at his keyboard to try and find the root of the issue. "Just hold on Jesse, I'll try and work this out," he reassured, pushing his glasses up his nose and diving into the guts of their transmission. As he did, he heard McCree's voice start to break through. This took some of the strain off, but he still had to figure out what was happening, as the man sounded ridiculously warped and off-pitch. As serious as Winston was, he knew wouldn't be able to stay straight-faced during an entire debrief of that voice.

"Hello?" came the voice, finally discernable.

"I can hear you Jesse, just let me figure out what's causing-"

"Hello? Is anyone there? Winston?"

His head snapped up. That wasn't McCree's voice. It didn't sound high-pitched because of the connection - it sounded like that because it was a female voice. He quickly looked up at the hologram, and through the resonating static, made out a person.

"Who are you?" he asked firmly. Whoever this was, they knew who he was, and they knew how to get into the Overwatch transmission system. There were a few tense moments of static before Winston got any response.

"Can you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes, I can - tell me who-"

"They aren't responding," she cut him off. Clearly, he thought, the transmission was only coming through on his end. "Can you get my pack, Snowball?"

'No,' Winston thought

He stared as intensely as he could at the hologram, trying to make out what he thought was happening. But there was no way. He knew what he thought simply couldn't be. She cleared her throat, Winston not daring to breathe.

"Winston. It's Mei,"

At that moment, and for that moment only, the static cleared completely. Her image was crystal clear - it was her.

"I have so much to tell you, and so much to ask, but I don't have the time right now, so I'll get straight to the point. A week ago, I woke up from my cryostasis - it was the artificial sleep we all went into, to outlast the storm that was approaching us. When I woke up..."

Mei paused. Her words snagged on the lump in her throat. But she didn't know how much longer the connection would last. She swallowed difficultly, and forced the tears that had begun to threaten, back into submission.

"When I woke up, every other pod had malfunctioned. My team had passed on. I was the only one left, and I soon after realised it had been ten years since we went into that sleep, and that currently, Overwatch is non-existent"

The words stung both Winston and Mei equally. He listened, waited with bated breath every time Mei spoke.

"But one week ago, when I was alone at the Ecopoint, when I had only just managed to get the systems back online - thanks to Snowball," she continued, smiling briefly at a beeping noise offscreen. "I got your message, Winston. I knew that I had to come back, that you would be my onlu way home. Snowball and I have trekked for the last week to get to the docking bay so that I might contact you. So," 

Mei drew a deep breath, and Winston held his.

"Winston. Ana. Jack. Whoever sees this message. I' at the bay now. We made it here, but there;s a storm about to hit and I don't know if we'll survive," she explained. A seriousness unlike any she'd ever experienced settled on her face.

"If you're seeing this, we need you. We need your help,"

"Athena," Winston breathed, not taking his eyes off the hologram, even for a second. "Is this message coming through on the live feed?"

A brief silence fell, only broken by the worsening static in the background.

"Yes, this communication is coming to you live from docking station 016J..."

Athena rattled off the details, but Winston tuned out. That was all he needed to know. He turned his full attention back to Mei.

"We want to rejoin Overwatch and keep helping people. We will keep helping. But we have no way of getting any further from here. I'm sorry, but you're the only ones who can save us,"

By now, Mei was having to yell over the howling wind outside. Quickly, a thunderous crash took her attention.

"Mei? Mei, can you hear me?" Winston called, finally finding his voice again. Whatever had fallen had interrupted the signal further, and her image became little more than a crackly blur.

"I have no more time, I'm sorry!" she yelled. After that, another, louder crash sounded, followed by a bone-chilling scream and frantic beeping.

The signal then cut out.

Winston exploded to life, breathless as he slammed a giant fist on the intercom button.

"All agents of Overwatch!" he bellowed into the speaker. His voice was strong, but there was no mistaking the shakiness around the edges. "Report to my office immediately. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill,"

The next words sparked a feeling he'd long since forgotten.

"We have a mission."

 

 

Within two minutes, Brigitte, Reinhardt and Tracer had all entered the room, with mixes of determination and confusion on their faces.

"Winston, what's happening?" Tracer asked, anxiously watching the giant ape.

"I just received a live transmission from our docking point in Antarctica," he explained while typing passwords into the lockout systems. "It was from Mei. She's alive."

Tracer's eyes widened until the could no more. while Reinhardt's jaw fell open.

"Winston, the Ecopoint that Mei was stationed at malfunctioned! There's no way she could be..."

Tracer was almost angry. Nobody knew for sure what had happened at the Antarctic Ecopoint, but they all knew something had gone horrifically wrong. The last contact they'd had with it was ten years ago, when they'd received the message that the inhabitants were going into cryosleep until the storm was over. Since then, nothing. She knew there was no way it should be possible.

"I know it sounds impossible - I thought I was hallucinating from the heat when it came through. But we need to save her," Winston stated. "We didn't reform Overwatch to pick and choose who we help and when we help them - we help anyone who needs us, even if it seems like a pipe-dream that they're alive. We're Overwatch,"

This statement was enough to distinguish any doubts that his three teammates had. They came back for a reason, and that was it. "Follow me, I'll brief you all on the way to the hangar."

Winston led the way out of his office hurriedly. As he and his team moved, he explained Mei's situation with as much detail as she'd been able to provide. He told them about her journey, warned them about the storm they'd be entering, and as he did this, communicated with Athena to get the hangar ready for deployment.

"Now," he began, as they entered the large warehouse. "You're going to need to be careful. None of you are trained specifically for the conditions you're going to be entering. You're all going to need these," he explained handing them each a thick undersuit each. As everyone turned away for each other's privacy, Winston kept explaining.

"This isn't going to be an easy mission. Our systems haven't been used practically for years, and neither have our aircrafts. I've kept them all as up to scratch as possible, but you're all going to be need to be prepared for a bumpy ride," 

Tracer signalled that everyone was newly dressed, and the all turned around to face one another again. Winston handed them all miniscule trackers, and Tracer and Reinhardt both planted them behind their ears. Brigitte, however, had no idea what was sitting in her hand or what to do with it.

"Here love, let me help you with that," Tracer offered kindly, seeing the confusion on Brigitte's face and remembering her own first mission. Brigitte sighed in relief as Tracer clipped the small device behind her ear and gave her a thumbs up. "Suits you" she winked.

Winston walked them towards the largest aircraft in the room. It's sturdy wings spread widely on either side of it, and it shined even in the artificial light of the hangar. 

"You'll be taking the Manta. Tracer, you'll be piloting, and I know you've not had any experience with a craft like this, but-"

Tracer was already opening the huge door on the side of the Manta and climbing in. "Ye of so little faith! Trust me Winston, I'm the only pilot to ever survive teleportation flight!" she called from inside. 

"And who's that thanks to," Winston muttered, turning to Reinhardt. The large machine growled to life behind them and a faint whooping followed it. "Reinhardt, I'm putting you in charge once you deploy. Get everyone in and out safely," he added, Reinhardt nodding.

"You can trust me." Reinhardt replied firmly. He was completely serious, and Winston's worries were eased slightly. Though Reinhardt was a goose a lot of the time, on missions he was a hardened vet. 

"I know I can. And Brigitte," 

Winston Looked at the smaller figure next to Reinhardt, and though she was trying valiantly to hide it, he could see the mild shivering of her body. 

"I'm putting you in charge of support. You're our only healer, and I have full faith in you to stabilise and return Mei, as well as your teammates," he said, softening his tone slightly to try and calm her. Brigitte met his eyes, an the determination on her face shocked him sightly. "I won't let you down, Winston" she stated, steeling herself. Reinhardt patted her shoulder proudly, and began to move towards the now fully awake and rumbling Manta. 

"Are you going to be alright?" Winston asked Brigitte, as she hadn't moved an inch. She jumped slightly before nodding. "You know, if you want to feel a little better about your first mission, ask Tracer about hers. She'll go o about it for so long that you'll be back here before she even finished" he whispered, smiling gently. This brought a sudden chuckle to Brigitte's lips, before she loosened up slightly.

"I think I'll do that. Thank you, Winston" she said, quickly giving the ape a hug before rushing towards the Manta. Reinhardt slid the big door down after her, and Winston watched as Tracer began flipping switches giddily in the cockpit. Athena opened the hangar doors, revealing the now dusky sky outside. The ocean lapped lazily against the cliffs they were stationed on, and Winston quickly hurried back to his office to give them the green light.

"Manta 1, do you read me?" he asked, sliding into his chair and furiously typing as he waited for reply. "We copy, Winston. Give me the signal and we're ready to fly," came Tracer's reply. He checked all their systems, scanning every monitor for any kind of problems. Everything seemed fine. He knew what he had to do. 

"Agents, you are clear to go. Good luck."

"We'll be right back," Tracer replied smugly, before switching off the comms for takeoff. After a few moments, Winston saw the Manta hovering in the sky over the hangar from his window. A second of gut-wrenching anxiety filled him as he thought of the worst. But then, just as he was about to break into an emergency transmission, it began to turn for the direction they were headed, and just like that, it was flying away. 

As much as it was a sight he wanted to watch forever, he knew he had as much work to do as the team. He began pulling up old maps of the docking bay Mei was currently at, to find them the safest way in and out. 

"Hold on, Mei. Just hold on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYYY!! I'm back! It's done been a busy few days, I had to get over the emotional trauma of Game of Thrones and then Endgame, so I'm sorry if this was a little later than expected! But here it is, and I believe this is the longest chapter so far! Much more is coming, but it might take me a little longer to get every chapter uploaded now, as this was the last chapter I had written in my notebook! So bear with me, cause I have much MUCH more coming, but it might take a tad longer! Anyway as usual I really hope you guys like it! I really appreciate ya'll putting in the time to read this, and I know we only have a select few characters and no ships in it yet, but they're all coming I absolutely promise you this!   
> And as usual, if you want to see more of the stuff that goes on in my head to do with OW and other games, my Tumblr is justiceformothra, and there I am active pretty much every day and I'll always have a shitty joke or obscure thought to share with you!
> 
> Next update should be coming in the next 2 weeks!! See you all then!!


	7. The Frozen Blaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mei suffers inexplicable injuries after the storm at the Bay, while contemplating all she's gone through and what's to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to let you know, there are heavy themes of injury and death in this chapter, so please be aware if that's not something you like to hear about/triggers you <3

“Snowball...?” 

Mei’s whisper was raspy, broken. It sent a searing pain down her throat, which was bone-dry. She tried to call out again, but her voice gave out, creating no more than a crushed whimper. It was not a surprise to her that she’d gotten no response from her companion – even with his advanced sensors he wouldn’t have been able to detect a noise that muted – however, her panic about his wellbeing grew nonetheless. 

Mei knew she needed to assess how much damage had been done. She knew that, at the minimum, she wouldn’t be able to get anything up and running again for the next 24 hours, but she didn’t have that kind of time. Scorching tears of frustration began to pool down her cheeks. Her and Snowball had done it – they'd come this far and reached their goal. With Mei’s limited knowledge of communicational technology, and some of Snowball’s battery, she’d coaxed life back into the building’s systems. As she’d managed to make fleeting contact with Gibraltar’s comms, the Bay had begun to bear the full brunt of the storm. Mei tired hard to make sure she was heard, but through the ferocious wind and needle-like rain, she wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded or not. All she knew for sure, was that nobody had answered. 

Before she’d been able to give her coordinates, in case someone found her message, for anyone who might be able to save her, one of the colossal pillars that bore a significant amount of the building’s structural integrity, began to crack below the force of the wind that had burst it’s way inside through broken windows and doors. Mei heard the fracture of the decade-old cement, but her attention was divided – she was still perilously trying to get any kind of contact back from the Watchpoint. 

A few seconds later, she felt the air around her begin to shift in a way that no amount of wind could conjure. It clicked swiftly what was about to happen, but it was already too late. Looking up, Mei had just enough time to hear her own disembodied scream as the beam came barreling towards her. 

She was now awake, and pinned down by chunks of smashed concrete. She knew both her legs were broken, but she dared not look down. Mei feared if she knew the extent of her injuries, the last embers of her motivation would be snuffed out. She clearly hadn’t been out for very long, as she could still feel the adrenaline pumping through her, dulling the pain coming from just about every part of her body. 

But with all the new problems she now had to face, the injuries she was yet to uncover, through all of this, only one thought stuck in her mind – and it had more power than anything else. 

 

‘Winston wasn’t there,’ 

 

She’d never felt defeat like this. She had come so close, only for her only hope to be ripped away just as she reached it. This was cruel, merciless, hateful. Mei knew she should stand up and find Snowball, find a way to reconnect the computers and try again. In her heart she knew if she gave up, that was it. She wouldn’t last the night. 

But her heart was tired. It had carried her from the Ecopoint to her current situation, all while bearing the anguish of her lost friends, the guilt of being the only survivor, and the hope of being found. It had been cracked open and gutted, then haphazardly stuck back together again with whatever endurance Mei had left. It had nothing left to give. 

‘I can keep going,’ she insisted, desperately trying to rid herself of this overwhelming dread. Ignoring the growing pain in her abdomen and legs, she tried to pry herself away from the wreckage, only to feel the monstrous pain of multiple cracked ribs. She wailed, the sound echoing, almost like something out there wanted to make fun of how alone she was. Warmth spread across the surface level of her stomach, and rose coloured splotches began to ink themselves through her heavy overcoat. Mei collapsed back into her spot, breath beginning to get slower. The blood seeping across her torso was hot, but for once in her life, she was cold.

Looking up as she lay back, she noticed that a portion of the roof had caved in, and she could see the night sky. Mei smiled weakly, remembering all the times she'd witnessed this gorgeous gift of nature while on field missions with her team. It never got old. Now that the storm had passed, the Arctic stars were visible, and they seemed to be more dazzling tonight than she could ever remember. 

"I wish Snowball could see this," she breathed to herself, feeling her lungs rattle as she tried to inhale. She knew what was coming - it was the thing she'd felt creeping at her heels ever since she left the Ecopoint, the thing that had consumed her friends, but left her alone for reasons she would never understand. She'd tried to leave the death behind her, trekking as far away from it as she could, thinking she could leave it to freeze in an Arctic storm. But now, as she lay watching the stars dance celestially, she came to terms with it. Death had wanted to play cat and mouse with her, and it won. Mei was ready. 

Though it hurt, she took another large breath, proving to her demise that it couldn't have her yet - she would stay alive for as much longer as she could. One of the stars above caught her attention, and she used what little energy she had left to focus on it. It was bright, that was for sure, brighter than any of the others. Mei couldn't recall seeing this star before, but in her state she knew that her astronomical knowledge probably wasn't what it normally was. Tilting her head as much as possible, she scrutinised it further, becoming more acutely aware of it's intense gleam. It was almost as if it was becoming brighter. A faint whirring noise filled Mei's ears, and what she thought was a star she now knew couldn't be - it was descending right above her. It was blinding as it became bigger, and something stirred in Mei's chest. 

'Am I hallucinating? Surely I haven't lost that much blood yet, but maybe I hit my head too hard. Or maybe... what if they did hear me?'

The intensity of the light suddenly became too much for Mei, and she shut her eyes. The whirring became slightly louder, and abruptly, she felt the light that had been piercing even her closed eyes disappear. She opened them back up, and just like that it was gone. And the excitement of it all had taken the last out of Mei - she dropped to the floor, hard, her vision bending in ways she didn't think were possible. The exhaustion she felt was otherworldly, and her breathing more laboured than ever. But as her consciousness leave her for the second time that night, something felt different. That feeling in her chest, it felt familiar - it felt hot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alexa, play "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John.
> 
> I'M HERE, I'M BACK! I finally pulled my shit together and wrote the chapter! This wasn't even the original way I wanted this chapter to go, but life takes you on mysterious journeys! Sincerely though, this chapter probably wouldn't have come anywhere near this soon if it weren't for the sweetest, kindest comments that were left on the last one, you made me want to keep going with this :) I had hoped to have this out closer to the New Year, but there's been a lot of intense things happening lately that have been taking up a lot of my attention. However, I'm going to start writing the next chapter soon, but I'm not going to give any timeframes cause I don't want to disappoint anyone if it's not as quick as you'd like (but feel free to comment if you want an update, and just ask me what the hell is taking me so long!). 
> 
> I hope this was worth waiting for, it was a little more difficult to write as I'm not super used to writing upsetting, melancholy vibes, and there was hardly ANY talking in it which is half of the way you convey emotion, but I tried my best, and while it's not my most prized work, I don't think I did awfully! I shall return soon with a longer, more vivacious chapter, cause things are about to start HEATING UP ;)))
> 
> Ciao for now!! <3


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